The humble year of an organic farmer
- Thread starter L P
- Start date
You've your work cut out there! Seriously considering SFI, but wary that we are already on revision 3 of the handbook which is already presumably penalising early applicants where options are becoming broader. Its going to be a logistical nightmare if they can go straight back in with amendments to level the playing field.Ok... this thread is for learning and not critiquing..happy... i will stick to SFI threads for my totally justified critical appraisals
@Bokey it's never got to that point, we had a 70 acre field of sb which was leeward of wild bird mix which got quite ugly with creeping thistle, we contemplated silaging or topping it to stop them seeding and blowing onto more crops. Financially at over £300 a tonne the crop is worth more to bring to harvest if possible. At £165 it might be an easier decision to forage it. We bought a new 9m weedsurfer and went through 3 times prior to harvest to stop them seeding and have since controlled them. Weedsurfer paid for itself outright on that one field and has sat in the barn for 2 years getting dusty. 10% wheel damage and even though it was scruffy the crop did 1.6t/a. Use a high seed rate, we tend to go 200-220kg/ha on barley, heavy red clay caps I tend to patch cross drill at the same rate again.
- Location
- Lincolnshire
We've used CYO with one of their mobile dressers to do, works fine but you do get a bit of waste (small grains and broken beans) that having something to feed it to is useful.
We’ve wholecropped bits over the years generally a bit earlier as arable silage when we’ve needed the extra forage or when its suited the rotation but as we bale all ours theres too much rat damage.
Just debating whether to get on and drill the organic wheat tomorrow before the rain or wait and get another flush of rubbish
Cyo are a good bunch. Did quite a few trials at Sheepdrove with dredge corn, best results from memory were oats and peas, surprisingly high pea ratio, 85% peas, 15% oats w/w from memory, for harvested not forage crop. Quite pleasurable to harvest too. Bloody rats in wholecrop, I think I touched on it already. Not wishing to influence your decision but planted our winter crop with the view that anything we rip up now will likely regrow in the dew/ shorter warm days to dry it out, hope for a kind winter and put in much later was the other option... didn't deem it worth the gamble
@Huno , Tracking down the seed mixture but this is our self funded wild bird mix, a variety of tussocky grasses sown at 24" spacing, not that you could tell now. Quite compatible with ahl3 and finches to pheasants love it. Tend to top a few wiggly lines into it to flush L'Ortolan... no... pheasants and partridges and the occasional wild quail (no, we don't shoot the quail, usually gone on by the time season starts, but lovely to see them)
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- Location
- Lincolnshire
The legume part of any of the mixes seem pretty variable some years loads other years hardly any but at least there's something to cut with the cereal proportion unlike some of the disastrous crops of beans we've had over the years.
Went with waiting until next week once this weathers passed it'll go in well if its a kind winter might get it harrowed next month
Oats have been a bit slow getting through, didn't much like 3" rain but they are evening up well now. Lucky to be free draining, however soil is saturated across most of the farm. Thankfully never get soil run off. Been on SFI investigation today and back on with the house last week finally!
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Finally dry enough to plough a bit of spring ground, 2 year ley of ryegrass red and sweet clover, going into Laureate... farm saved this year, rather annoying, our 100% germ malting barley wont be going for malting as last years horrific weather has shown "gushing" a mycotoxin on the grain that makes for foamy beer, but good germ so we will be CYO-ing it adding Nuello N. So lucky to have free draining land in a year like this. Been busy collecting load after load of grain drying kit for a new to us Svegma dryer... sort of looking forward to having a good dryer, if you can look forward to drying grain!
- Location
- Westish Suffolk
Hi, wonder if anyone could help - are there any changes to organic support with the recently published new CFI/CS regime please?
TIA
TIA
CS upped the organic conversion/maintenance payment last year, we ditched mid tier so not up to speed on the organic options in CS. SFI is not organic specific, they have altered a few option payment rates and I believe will be introducing more options in the future.
Sorry chaps, in between the deluge of rain I've been pretty overburdened lately. At least I've secured our spring seed... just... 3rd time lucky on oats and that's with a deregation, no sign of the clover/herbal ley mixes yet. Been outing some kit that is little used and invested in a comb harrow seeder to plant various SFI options. I've a small amount of ground worked down to be drilled but for this damned weather... its going to be a tiny window to get a good spring crop at this rate... at least the mascani looks excellent!
Well, started drilling today... photo more or less sums it up so far this season... a blur... all or nothing. Its wet underneath but good tilth on top, not a good start for soil structure this year I expect. Bought in Laureate makes mine look like gold yet apparently mine had "gushing" a mycotoxin on it and fit for feed despite 99% germ. I've more confidence in my recleaned over the grey sample of c2. Spring drilling seems to have become sh!t or bust, no weather window, too early, too late, months of dry after drilling limiting yield. Its becoming pretty high risk over the past few years, yet the conventional guys continue to fail to plant winter crops with a far bigger weather window because the agronomist says wait for the black grass. What happened to oat planting in August being more important than combining?
